A good buy; definitely worth a try if you want over-ears for inside and out

For

Honest, detailed midrange

comfortable and compact to wear

quiet to bystanders

Against

Slight colouration to upper bass, upper treble can be provoked by harsh tunes

Reviewed on 13th October 2010

These Bose headphones set themselves apart with their deliberately compact and stylish design. The tediously titled ‘Around Ears' are something of a rarity in being full, over-ear hi-fi cans that you can take out and wear in public without, frankly, looking rather silly. Bose technology to the foreAnd part of their compact design – as well as their performance – is due to Bose's clever ‘Triport' technology: essentially, as the name suggests, three small ports on each ear enclosure, and an equalised tonal balance that creates, the company claims, a rich performance that you would normally get only from bigger headphones.

And, as a pair of cans you might use on the train, they work remarkably well. They're incredibly comfortable to wear, don't leak much sound – unlike the open-backed designs here – and offer an accomplished performance with a generous midrange, reasonable detail and acceptable lashings of deep yet punchy bass.

Our only minor problem is with a slight lack of purity to the upper bass and a treble that can be pushed to harshness on occasions.

If you're looking for over-ear cans with which you can take to the streets, this isn't a bad place to start looking.